pakmelee



D. D. PARMELEE.

Manufacture of Rubber Fabrics. l t N6. 26,519. u Patented Dec, 20. 1859.

N, PETERS. Phulo'Liiho npbw, WW II. C.

Du BOIS D. rARMnLnncr sntnn, ,nassgrcnosn'rrs, ASSIGNOR a j BEVERLY, MAssncHUsE Ts;

complishment of the final result Thus, there is a gradual softening of the sheet by the hermizingg; solution, so that the sheet, in being handled, is not only apt to sticktobut amendment RUBBER AR'fIGLES. 1

Specification of Letters iP aten t 26,519, dated DecemberYZlL ToaZZ whom it mag concern: l

Be it known that I, DU BoIs D. PARMELEE,

of Salem, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented anew and useful method of applying to india-rubberl or its equivalent or their compoundsits or:

their hermizing SOllltlOIlufOI effecting the change in the cold way; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full,*clear,uand exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification, and which represents, in vertical section and plan view, certain contrivances or mechanism" suitable to the practical applicaton of my invention.

ina solution containing chlorin or bromin.

Such is necessarily an operation of great delicacy, partly on account of its rapidity of action, but. particularly on account of those changes or series of changes which take place in the material being acted upon by the chemical ingredients of the bath from the moment of its immersion therein till the acvery liableto be tornbythe fingersof the operator. This and other reasons have made it heretofore impracticable to operate by i I i ing of rubber coated clothior sheets hand, on a large or manufacturing scale, in the production of cloth or sheets of the description referred to and the vulcanization of which is eifected in the cold way asbefore mentioned. Y

Said reasons may be classified as follows: Firstly, there is the liability of the sheet to be torn or injured. Secondly, the sticking of the softened or pastylike rubbermto the fingers of the operator, and it sticks with such a force or tenacity as to renderits removal, till worn away, an act of great difficulty or impossibility. Thirdly, the tendency of the solution or material impregnated with it, seriously to injure the fingers and hands of the operator, by the necessity, which there exists in the handling of the produced on the fingers: makes. cable for the .operatorgyto 13cc and inconvenient tol handle i t {of course is theirequivalents; and by certai i and economyinproduction,?to 'nyestwit practical value the manufacture "of the; same .the sheet in and out of the hermizing. solumime i a no sheet .for .himto wet andkeep wet with; water his hands, and jwhichywaterg ,f

contact with the chlorin;the solun causes there.to)be formedyhydrochlori 1d t efiect O w i h nt el yste mgene r as Well as onthe fingers hands needsp o; I comment here other than that the soreness .impract a i1 I j lt ii heul A work for any lengthened lperiod qwithout after pauseand often enforces absencefforqwe s Q at the time. Fourthly, the difficultyaor ijlna 1 possibility there .is or. hasgbeen to produce} if; a uniform action of the hermizjijng solutioni throughout or 1 over, the sheet a being acted. 7Q 1 upon. This difiiculty exists, whthei with? I 31 1 sheet bewlarge or small, though where large greater. Equalitygof i mersionor satura tion byhand of a very zlargefishe'et gis inl fact utterly impossibleq -This;;dilf1culty .will s'be readily understood,landthe great expense at; i tending it, made apparent, hen. it his 1ex-g plained that in previous atteniptsfby handfi 1 to manufacturesheets as describeiof ordi- 39:3 nary size only, ithasrequirednouless thang 1 seven operatives to be' en'gaged,exclusively; 1 in the treatmentof the sheet to the i hermizingy 1 process; thatis, two menlto uIrrOllIItherub F 1 if her sheet a or rubheru-coated; cloth Rasyit comes from the calender; ftwo morewtol feed, the. 1;; sheet properly into :the trough ivcontainingy the hermizing solution,twow toffeed itfout from the trough I'and one ;to keepwtliercloth,@ 1: which. iswlighter thanflthelsolutionyl sub .9 i merged, to secure the proper hermizing of thesheet. l

wholly or in part of ruhberagutta f ercihaaor 5% l ywo'flres is the object of my invention,?whiclifconsists in the use of mechanical .mea nslfor feedin 91.

tion in a steady and uniform. mannersub stantially as hereinafter described and .1 whereby handling of thejflsaturated sheet; is avoided. l 11 In the mechanismzrepresented in ;the ac-f companying drawing, R 1 is {a reel around fl which the sheet of rubberor rubber clothis, wound previously to zits being hermized. 1 The axle of the reel," which runs in brackets B at either end, draws out and is made to fit other similar reels so as to save'time by wrapping fresh cloth on another or other reels during the hermizing of the one roll or sheet, and to take the place of the reel in the brackets when its cloth or said roll is worked oif.

ing to the conveying apron S an independent character. The operator then turns the one roller 0, by means of a crank 00, and, at the same time, with his other hand, turns the reel R, to feed out and forward the required quantity of cloth, and so continues to advance the cloth along and with the motion of the apron S, timing the speed of the same by the motion of the crank 00, and moving the reel R in accordance with the draft to' prevent strain and to insure the proper and easy paying out of the cloth. This being continued, the cloth is projected or gradually fed into a tank D made of glass, lead stone or other suitable material situated at the rear end of the conveying apron, and containing the necessary hermizing solution. In the vicinity of this tank should stand another operator whose office it is to see that the rubber cloth falls or bends so as to dip in the solution and to attend to the further feeding of it over a roller E and down or over an endless delivery apron. G wound around said roller andanother roller F acting in conjunction therewith, till the rubber cloth saturated with the hermizing solution falls or is fed into a water cistern W to wash the cloth as necessary in the hermizing process. These last named rollers E and F or the driving one E of them should be of the same diameter as the rollers 0 0 of the main apron and should be belted or geared with said rollers so as to-secure an equality of speed in the feed and delivery of the sheet to and from the hermizing tank. This speed will of course be changed to suit various circumstances, such as strength of the solution, thickness of the rubber cloth and so forth, and which should control the period of immersion of the sheet in the hermizing solution or rate of its traverse therethrough. When all the cloth from the one reel has been thus fed and hermized, the second operator rinses the cloth in the cistern and rolls it up on a table T and while the second operator is doing this, the first operator may be engaged in removing the spent reel and in replacing it by another full reel R to be operated on as before.

Thus, it will be seen two operators suflice instead of seven; time is economized; a positive uniformity for the hermizing action secured throughout the whole sheet; and all handling of the cloth, after or while it is saturated with the hermizing solution and previous to being washed, avoided; besides which many other advantages accrue, and a practical method of manufacturing said sheets in a regular and automatic manner by machinery, as distinguishable from a mere hand process, for the first time is attained.

Of course the mechanical contrivances may be varied to effect a like result in sub.

stantially the same manner, but the means I have described explain how my invention may be carried out.

What I- claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

The, employment in the manufacture of india rubber sheets, whether combined or not with cloth and when the same are to be treated in the cold way to effect the change as described, on either side of the tank containing the hermizing solution,.of a feeding mechanism so arranged and operated that the sheet may be fed in and out of the tankat a uniform rate and free from injurious handling and draft or strain substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

DU BOIS D. PARMELEE.

Witnesses:

A. BLEAK,

EDM. F. BROWN. 

